River Mill falters late in championship

RALEIGH — River Mill spent 27 minutes of its first state championship berth building a substantial lead against perennial power Bishop McGuinness.

Then, in the course of five minutes, Bishop McGuinness snatched the air out of the Jaguars with 15 straight points.

It was a run that came too late for River Mill to respond, with Bishop McGuinness capturing a 57-52 victory in the Class 1-A girls’ state championship on Saturday afternoon at Reynolds Coliseum.

The victory marks the eighth straight state championship for Bishop McGuinness — an unprecedented stretch for boys’ or girls’ basketball in North Carolina.

“I know how badly our girls, especially our seniors, wanted this,” said River Mill coach Hamilton Perkins. “I know it’s rough for them right now but just to be here serves as a great testimony for the many accomplishments.”

Senior Lenaira Ruffin played the starring role for River Mill (28-4), tallying 17 points and 15 rebounds. She also had four steals, three assists and two blocked shots.

River Mill led 50-39 with 5:48 left on the strength of back-to-back baskets by freshman Lenaja Ruffin, Lenaira’s sister.

The rally from Bishop McGuinness (25-7) came quickly, starting with 4:17 left. In a span of 2:19, River Mill saw its 11-point lead evaporate into a four-point hole. In that time, River Mill missed six field goals and three free throws and committed a pair of turnovers.

A 3 from Tia Cappuccio, a bucket from Julia Brown and a traditional three-point play from Olivia DeFrancesco cut River Mill’s lead to 50-48 with less than three minutes left.

When River Mill’s Kayla Burns was whistled for a charge on the ensuing possession, a 3-pointer by Cameron Nieters gave Bishop McGuinness its first lead since the 5:28 mark of the first quarter.

The Jaguars’ Daijah Faucette missed a layup on the next possession, leading to another 3-pointer by Cappuccio in front of the Villains’ bench and with coach Brian Robinson pleading to take more time off the clock.

There was no hesitation from Cappuccio.

“I didn’t really see (Robinson) telling me to stop, so … I was feeling it,” Cappuccio said with a chuckle.

Marla Crawford scored with 56 seconds left to put the Jaguars within two at 54-52, but a couple free throws by Tessa Johnson put the game effectively in hand in the final seconds for Bishop McGuinness.

“Yeah, they were coming back. They were getting all hyped. But I still think we should have won,” Crawford said, “… Because I just feel like we were a better team than them.”

Even Robinson was guilty of believing his team’s historical run would come to a halt.

“We feel extremely fortunate to win this game. We looked like we were down and out for the count two or three times in the fourth quarter,” Robinson said.

Bishop McGuinness’ Brown was named the game’s Most Outstanding Player for her 17-point, 14-rebound effort. She had 10 of her points in the second half after the Villains made more of an effort to go inside against the undersized River Mill team.

“We were missing, I was missing quite a few shots,” Brown said. “I know when I came out, Coach Robinson was like, ‘Keep shooting, it’s OK, you’re taking good shots.’

“I kind of took that and was like, ‘OK, just keep shooting, they’ll eventually go in’ and they did eventually go in, thankfully.”

River Mill limited Bishop McGuinness’ chances for the first three quarters before being outscored 20-7 in the last frame. A 10-0 run in the first quarter gave River Mill a lead it didn’t relinquish until the excruciating final five minutes.

“Looking at the stats at halftime, we were up by a rebounding standpoint by about three or four. That was our point of emphasis,” Perkins said. “Looking at the end result for rebounds, we were out-rebounded decisively (49-37), it’s a little shocking.”

Cappuccio and Nieters each scored 12 points for Bishop McGuinness.

Ruffin was the only player in double-figure scoring for River Mill, as Kayla Burns added nine points and Crawford scored eight points.